


Christmas Lights are the Best

by hayley128



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F, Heath Family - Freeform, Mostly Fluff, Press Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:07:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27917950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hayley128/pseuds/hayley128
Summary: Tobin meets Christen at a company Christmas party and don’t want that one night to be the last they see of each other.
Relationships: Tobin Heath/Christen Press
Comments: 14
Kudos: 251
Collections: Preathfics Winter 2020 Collection





	Christmas Lights are the Best

There was nothing like sleeping in your own bed. At least, that’s what Tobin thought as she stretched out and let out a calming breath. The familiarity of her bedroom was comforting, relaxing, and everything she felt she needed after spending her first semester away from home.

College has both been everything she wanted and everything she wasn’t expecting, too. Sure, classes were harder than she thought and she probably didn’t do as well in her classes as her parents wanted, but she passed and that’s what mattered. As long as she kept her GPA high enough to stay on the soccer team, that was the only thing that mattered.

Playing on the soccer team at UNC had been challenging, but fun. She knew she was improving on all her skills and she just clicked with the rest of the girls on the team. It felt like she was making friends for life, people she could really count on when she needed them. She knew that first-hand because they had been there for her a month ago.

A frown appeared on her face as she thought about what her mind had been trying to avoid since she came home a few days ago. She closed her eyes and tried not to think of the phone call, the hardest one she’d ever had to participate in and one she had never expected to get. The result of which had her wallowing in her friend Ash’s room for days.

Her high school sweetheart, the one she knew she was supposed to be with forever, called and very unceremoniously broke up with her. Sure, Shirley had been upset that Tobin went to college so far away from home, but it was an opportunity that she wasn’t about to pass up and she was sure that her girlfriend had understood. Getting a full scholarship to the best soccer program in the country didn’t just happen and Tobin would have been foolish to give it up to stay closer to home.

She had been faithful. Hell, she never even as much as looked twice at another girl the entire time she’d been in North Carolina. But it turned out that she was the only one, especially now that Shirley had a new girlfriend, one that apparently was better at paying attention to her needs.

A sudden knock on her door caused her to jump slightly. She had no idea that anyone was even home since it was a Thursday and both her parents should be at work. Her two older sisters wouldn’t be coming home until closer to Christmas and she had heard her little brother leave for his high school earlier. She figured that meant she could hang out in her room all day and do some wallowing alone and without any judgment.

“Tobin? Honey, are you up?”

The voice of her mother and the sound of the bedroom door opening caused her to shift in her bed and look toward the door. “Yeah.”

Her head appeared in the opening and she smiled, looking at her youngest daughter with kind eyes. “We missed you at breakfast this morning. I didn’t realize you would be so tired.”

“It’s fine, Mom. What are you doing home? I thought you would be at work.”

“Oh, I forgot some papers so I figured I would come back over lunch to pick them up,” she said sweetly. “Want me to make you a sandwich or something for lunch? You should get up. Maybe you can visit some of your old friends. I’m sure a lot of them are back in town.”

Tobin really wasn’t in the mood to see any of her high school friends. Since she was all about soccer, most of her friends outside of her high school team were more Shirley’s friends than hers. They had probably taken her side in the breakup, especially since she had kept in contact with everyone and Tobin really hadn’t talked to anyone after she left for UNC. She didn’t feel much like confirming that suspicion. 

“Maybe later I’ll give them a call,” she said vaguely and sat up in bed. “I’ll be down in a minute.”

Her mother left her alone to change and semi get ready for the day. All she really wanted to do was more of the same as what she had done since she got home: sleep, play some video games, and in general be a little lazy. She had a thought that her mother coming home for lunch and coaxing her out of her room with the promise of lunch would end that plan.

Ten minutes later she was walking into the kitchen, smiling at the fresh turkey sandwich and some potato chips sitting on a plate at the center island. “Thanks, Mom.”

“It’s no problem,” her mother said as she sorted some papers before picking up her own sandwich. “I feel like we haven’t seen much of you since you got home. You eat dinner then it’s back to your room.”

“Sorry,” Tobin apologized quickly, “I’ve just been tired.”

“Is this because of Shirley?”

Tobin stopped concentrating on her sandwich and lifted her head to look at her mother. She hadn’t told anyone in her family about Shirley yet, not in any of the calls she had made home. She had been attempting to find the right way to say that the girl who’d been a fixture at her house for what felt like forever had dumped her. “You know about that?”

Her mother gave her a small, comforting smile. “I saw Shirley’s mother in the grocery store a couple weeks ago. She mentioned that it was sad that long distance took another couple and was a little confused when I had no idea what she was talking about.” She paused to take a bite of her own sandwich and Tobin knew she wanted her to take in the information. “What didn’t you say anything?”

Tobin shrugged and looked down. “I didn’t know how to tell you. I know you liked Shirley and I didn’t want you or Dad to think I failed.”

“Tobin, you know that your father and I liked Shirley, but you’re both so young and these things happen. It’s nobody’s fault.”

“Well, since Shirley’s the one who found someone else, I’d say it’s her fault,” Tobin mumbled, unable to completely keep the bitterness out of her voice.

“I know you don’t want to hear this, but you will meet someone else,” her mother said in the calm, motherly voice Tobin had grown accustomed to. “Someone at school or maybe someone else from around here. It will happen and probably when you least expect it.”

Tobin only nodded in response, not wanting to get into everything with her mother. She didn’t want to talk about the way Shirley had told her that if she would have stayed closer to home that she wouldn’t have had to meet someone else, someone who was around for her. She definitely didn’t want to get into the fact that the only girl she ever slept with cheated on her with someone she had only known for two weeks.

That’s what hurt even more. She’d known Shirley for four years. They’d dated for two. But it only took her meeting and knowing this other girl for two weeks before she knew that Tobin was her past. And then told her so over the phone without much emotion.

“Listen,” her mother started again, “I also have a favor to ask.”

“What favor?”

“My company’s Christmas party is tomorrow night and the owner made a point in the invitation that employees should bring their families with. That means I want you to dress up a little and come with me and your dad.”

“Mom, when they say things like that, they mean little kids,” Tobin said, sighing as she thought of tagging along to her mother’s work party. “They don’t mean your adult children.”

“I work with people of all ages, Tobin. I’m sure there will be some your age. You are not the only child that came home from college in this town.” She took Tobin’s now empty plate from her and moved to put it in the sink. “This is my first year there and I want to make a good impression. Besides, Mr. Press loves soccer and he knows that you play for UNC. I’m sure that he’ll want to talk to you about it.”

Tobin knew she could try to make up that she had some sort of plan, that she had friends she was seeing, but that plan had failure written all over it. Both her parents knew that she hadn’t been talking to any of her old friends since she got back.

“Is Jeff going?”

“No, he already had plans tomorrow night so we’re letting him skip.”

Tobin sighed. “Of course.”

XXXXXXXXX

No one felt like a bigger loser than Tobin as she got out of the backseat and stared up at the giant house they arrived at. She knew that the company her mom worked for was a big deal, a real profitable place, but she’d never been to a mansion like this before. It made her feel all the more out of place, especially since she just knew that no one was bringing their adult children with. The five year old in a cute Christmas dress walking with her parents ahead of them had to be proof of that.

She knew she should have at least attempted to call someone and see if they wanted to hang out. At the very least, then she would know if they were her friends or just Shirley’s now that they were broken up.

“Tobin, please try to look happy you’re here,” her father said as they walked up to the front door.

“Yes, Dad,” she answered and smiled at him. He gave her a small pat on the shoulder in return, almost like he knew this would be a boring night for her.

They were quickly ushered into the home and someone offered to take their coats before they were greeted by a woman walking toward them. “Cindy, Jeff, we’re so happy you could make it.”

Her mother smiled as Tobin looked over the woman, who looked every bit like someone who threw parties like this one all the time. “Stacy, of course we were going to come. It’s so nice that you and Cody do this for all the employees.”

“Well, we like to think of everyone as one big family,” Stacy commented. “We love this time of year and we like to meet everyone’s family.”

“Our two oldest are out of the house and our youngest unfortunately had other plans tonight, but our youngest daughter, Tobin, is with us tonight. She’s just home from her first semester at UNC.”

Stacy smile and immediately extended a hand for Tobin to shake. “It’s wonderful that you could join your parents tonight, Tobin. My own daughters are around here somewhere. We have them help with setting up and greeting people, but then they’re free to roam.”

“Nice to meet you,” Tobin said politely, shaking her hand.

“I’ll let you mingle and get some food. There’s plenty so eat up and get some of the special punch that Cody likes to mix up every year. We’ll talk later, Cindy.”

Tobin watched her go before she followed her parents further into the house before they found the food and the holiday punch everyone seemed to be drinking. The tables of food were impressive and she had to admit everything she tried tasted amazing. The punch was surprisingly good and she sipped it slowly as she followed her parents around for the first 20 minutes or so, trying to see if there was anyone her age. While her mother was correct and people had definitely brought their kids, she had yet to see anyone that was past the pre-teen stage.

After a couple of conversations where people politely asked her the standard home from college questions, Tobin wandered away from her parents in search of a quieter area. It had felt a little too weird to hang with her parents, who tried to keep her in conversations, and now she only wanted to play on her phone until it was time to leave.

She managed to find what looked like a family room just away from the noise of the party and sat down on one of the couches. With a quiet sigh, she sat her cup of punch on an end table and pulled her phone out of her pocket.

“You know, this is kind of an off-limits area.”

Tobin jumped at the noise, thinking that she was alone, and immediately stood up. She quickly straightened her shirt and when she looked up, she realized she was almost face to face with another girl about her age. And boy, was she beautiful. It made Tobin a little nervous.

“Sorry, I didn’t see a sign or anything.”

The other girl smiled a huge smile and Tobin couldn’t help but smile back. Unlike Tobin’s slacks and nice button down shirt she had chosen to wear tonight, the girl was wearing a simple black dress and her hair was pulled back to a perfect bun. Her green eyes seemed to sparkle as she looked Tobin over and she bore a striking resemblance to the woman who greeted them so she guessed this was one of the daughters. “Most people just know to stay in the common area with all the food, drinks, and decorations. You must be new.”

Tobin nodded. “My mom’s only worked for the company for like eight months or so.” She rubbed her hands over her black slacks, wondering why they were suddenly sweaty. “Is this your house?”

She kept her smile as she nodded. “My parents. My father owns the company.”

“It’s nice,” Tobin said thought that there probably wasn’t any way she could be more awkward than she was at the moment. She felt an instant attraction to the other girl, something she really hadn’t felt before, and it caught her completely off guard. “I’m Tobin.”

“Christen.” Her smile still hadn’t gone away and she looked very amused at Tobin’s nervousness. “I think my father is looking for you.”

Tobin furrowed her brow in confusion. “Do I know your dad?”

Christen laughed. “No, but your mom said you got a scholarship at UNC to play soccer and he’s a huge soccer fan. I bet he’ll ask you a ton of questions.”

“Oh,” Tobin said as she rubbed the back of her neck. “I . . . don’t know how to respond to that.”

“Well, I heard your mom and dad bragging about you.”

Tobin couldn’t stop the smirk that appeared on her face. “How did you know it was me?”

“I don’t think anyone else here has a daughter named Tobin.”

The comment made Tobin chuckle. “I guess it is pretty original.”

Christen looked back toward the noise of the party and then to Tobin again. “Do you want to go somewhere else?”

“Aren’t you supposed to mingle and help with the party or whatever?” Tobin asked, remembering what Christen’s mother had said earlier. Not that she wanted to chase her away though. She had finally found someone her age and she was drawn to her.

Christen shrugged as her smile turned into a smirk. “I helped set up, I talked to all my dad’s friends already, and they probably will want me to clean up later. Right now though, you’re probably the only one around my age other than my sisters so I don’t think anyone will miss if we sneak off for a bit.”

“I knew my mom was wrong when she said kids of all ages would be here.”

“She probably included me and my sisters since we have to be here or she just wanted to drag you with. Come on, I want to show you something.”

Without saying anything else or waiting for Tobin to respond, Christen grabbed her hand and led her further away from the noise of the party. They walked up the stairs and down a hall until they entered a bedroom. Tobin guessed it was Christen’s and smiled at how neat and organized it was.

“Your room?” Christen nodded. “Cool.”

She looked over the room, taking in the pictures and trophies as the grin on her face got wider. Tobin turned to Christen and happily said, “you play soccer, too?”

“Yeah,” Christen confirmed, happiness showing in both her tone and eyes. “I’m going to play in college, too. I got a scholarship to Stanford.”

“What, didn’t want to go to a better school?” Tobin teased.

“Hey, Stanford is a good school,” Christen defended. “We can’t all go to UNC.”

The part that Christen had not yet gone to or played for Stanford definitely caught Tobin’s attention. “So you’re a senior?” she asked and when Christen nodded, she let out a chuckle. “You know, we’ll probably end up playing each other.”

“Probably.”

They started talking soccer and school in general as they sat on Christen’s bed, with Christen asking Tobin how much she loved playing college soccer several times. Tobin loved talking to her and she couldn’t get over how easy it was to talk to Christen about any topic that was brought up. She felt a certain pull to her. Sure, she was beautiful and she was into soccer as much as Tobin, but there was something else, too. She really hoped this wasn’t the last time she saw Christen.

She decided to take a leap and do something she’d never done before. “You know, this may be an overstep, but would you want to go out sometime? Get together while I’m on break?”

There was something in Christen’s eyes that Tobin couldn’t quite decipher. “How do you know I’m not going out with someone already?”

Tobin’s mouth dropped open. She hadn’t seen anyone that looked like a significant other in any of the pictures she’d seen in the room and no one had been mentioned the entire time they had talked. There was also the way Christen had been looking at her the entire time they’d been in her bedroom. She figured the other girl at least found her attractive. “Are you?”

She shook her head. “No.”

“You scared me for a second there,” Tobin said as she chuckled. “So do you want to go out with me?”

“Yes.”

“Cool.” 

Tobin nodded and looked down. It was the first time she’d ever taken the leap and asked someone on a date. Her friends at college had tried to get her to before they all parted ways for break, but she hadn’t been in the mood. When she looked up, she realized Christen had moved closer to her and once their eyes met, she leaned in closer

The only thing she could do, or wanted to do, was help close the distance as Christen leaned in and lightly kissed her lips. It caught Tobin a little by surprise since they had just met, but it was definitely a good surprise. She couldn’t stop the smile from appearing on her face as Christen moved away. 

“I bet we have 30 minutes or so before one of my sisters or my mom finds us and drags us back to the party. So what else should I know about you, Tobin, before we go out?”

XXXXXXXX

“Chrissy, who was that you were talking to?”

Christen picked up an empty cup off a table and threw in the garbage bag she held with her other hand. Her younger sister, Channing, had only noticed Tobin at the very end of the party and had unfortunately noticed the little wave she gave Christen as she left. “No one, just one of the kids that came with her parents to the party.”

“That wasn’t what happened at all,” Tyler said as she walked into the room. “I found Christen in her room with her. And they exchanged numbers.”

“What?”

Christen closed her eyes for a second because of course her older sister would notice that. She was also the one who ended up interrupting her time with Tobin. “Her name is Tobin and she goes to UNC. She’s on the soccer team.”

“And she’s hot!”

“Shut up, Tyler,” Christen said quickly as she tried to hide a blush that was beginning to appear on her face. She definitely thought Tobin was hot, it was part of the reason she kissed her. They had even kissed a couple more times before Tyler discovered them.

There was something else about Tobin though. Something that made her want to get to know her. Christen already knew she was a little shy, humble about her soccer skills, and very sweet. She felt like she could talk to her for hours and never get bored. Of course, the fact she was so attracted to Tobin didn’t hurt either.

“But she is, Chrissy,” Tyler said. “If she wants to go out with you, you should go for it.”

“I don’t know,” Christen said. “Maybe she was just talking to me because she finally found someone around her age to talk to.”

“Don’t sell yourself short,” Channing commented as she sat down on the couch. “I doubt she would have given you her number if she didn’t like you.”

“I guess.” Now that the party was over and Tobin was gone Christen was doubting herself a little. Sure, she had been the one to kiss Tobin first and the older girl seemed interested, but she had never done that before. She had only had two previous relationships and though Tobin didn’t get into her past, she was older and probably had dated in college. She had to have more experience.

Christen had even only recently realized that she was attracted to girls. She had dated a boy during most of her junior year, but she ended it when she realized she was seriously crushing on a girl and that all her crushes had been on girls. So she broke with her boyfriend, which led to a short-lived relationship with a girl on her soccer team, but that ended when summer did.

She had thought that maybe she should just get through her senior year, concentrate on finishing school and playing soccer, and then revisit the attraction to girls in college. That plan had been working so far, but then there was Tobin: a very unexpected yet incredibly welcome surprise.

Her phone buzzed before she could say anything else. She looked down and smiled as she saw that Tobin had already sent her a text. 'Couldn’t wait to text you. Busy tomorrow?'

“Is she texting you? She’s hooked already.” Tyler sat down next to Channing and grinned. “Where did you get those skills?”

“You know I don’t have skills,” Christen said, sitting down between her sisters. “She wants to go out tomorrow.”

“Do it! You don’t have any plans.”

“How do you know?”

“Christen, you haven’t had plans in like a month,” Channing said. “And this is even better because Mom and Dad have already met her. They’ll probably be cool with Tobin taking you out.”

“Yeah, you need to go for it,” Tyler joined in. “Text her back already!”

“Fine, fine.” Christen looked down again and thought for a few seconds before typing out a message: 'I’m free. :) What do you have in mind?'

The text back was almost instant. 'How about I pick you up at 6 and we can get dinner?'

Christen quickly sent a text agreeing to the date with both her sisters looking over her shoulder.

“Chrissy, you have a date!” Channing said excitedly.

Christen smiled. “Yeah, I guess I do.”

XXXXXXX

“Hey, Mom,” Tobin called out as she walked down the stairs and toward the kitchen, thinking her mom might be there. “I’m going to go out tonight so I won’t be around for dinner.”

When she entered the kitchen she found that both her parents were sitting at the table, with her mother looking over an ad and writing a few things down. She looked up from her note pad and gave what Tobin could only think was a relieved look. “That’s great, Tobs. Did you decide to go out with some of your old friends?”

“Ah, not exactly,” Tobin answered, hand immediately going to the back of her neck as nerves hit her. “I’m meeting up with Christen. We’re going to get something to eat and hang out.”

“Christen? Do we know a Christen?” her dad asked.

“Yeah, Dad, you do. It’s Christen Press. I met her last night.”

“You’re going out with Cody’s daughter?” her mother asked and Tobin nodded. “Tobin, is this a date?”

“Uh, yeah,” Tobin said but it sounded almost like a question. “Is that okay?”

“Does Cody know? From what I’ve heard, he doesn’t let his daughters go out with anyone he hasn’t met first.”

“But he met me last night.” Tobin furrowed her brow, a little confused. Christen hadn’t mentioned that at all. She simply agreed to the date. “I met both her parents last night and Christen said it was okay to pick her up at six.”

“Okay, then it’s probably fine.” Her mother had a small smile on her face, which told Tobin she wasn’t done yet. “Just don’t be surprised if Cody wants to talk to you first. I heard that he used to go out of his way to scare the boys that tried to date his oldest daughter.”

Tobin just nodded and went back up to her bedroom to get dressed. She didn’t want to wear anything too dressy, especially with the plans she hoped Christen would be okay with. It wasn’t too cold out yet, but the town was starting to have that Christmas feel that Tobin always loved growing up. That meant she dressed in a couple of layers, black skinny jeans, boots, and a leather jacket to top it off.

It dawned on her that she had never told Christen what their plans were and Tobin had never said if she should wear anything specific. She had never had to plan a date before, at least, not something like this. Everything felt very new to her now that she wasn’t dating Shirley anymore.

Soon enough it was time to leave and Tobin jumped into her trusty old Jeep and drove to Christen’s house. The entire way she silently prayed that she wouldn’t have to have a talk with Christen’s dad at the door or anything. Shirley’s parents never had a talk with her. She had practically grown up in their house so there hadn’t been a need for it.

Instead, she pulled up to the house and gave herself a quick once over in the mirror before taking a deep breath and getting out of the car. She walked up and rang the doorbell, hoping that Christen would be the one answering the door, but instead she was greeted by her mother.

“Hi, Tobin,” she greeted her happily, “come on in. Christen’s almost ready.”

“Okay,” Tobin nodded her head as she stepped inside, “thanks, Mrs. Press.”

“I must say that we were a little surprised when Christen said you were the one she was going out with tonight,” she said as she guided Tobin further into the house. “We didn’t even realize that the two of you had talked much last night.”

“Yeah, we talked about soccer,” Tobin said, not knowing if she should admit that they talked in Christen’s bedroom. 

“Well, I’m sure you’ll have plenty to talk about,” Christen’s mother said. “Christen is always thinking about soccer and how it’ll be like next year to play for Stanford.”

Tobin opened her mouth to say something that her brain hadn’t quite thought of yet when she saw Christen rushing into the room. Unlike the night before, she was dressed casually, jeans and a cream colored sweater, and her hair was down and curly. Tobin didn’t know how she could be any more beautiful than she had been while dressed up for the Christmas, but she was. She kept her mouth closed, afraid she’d say something stupid as a result.

“All ready,” Christen said quickly. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“It’s okay,” Tobin responded, trying not to stare too much, especially with Christen’s mother standing right next to her. “You look really nice.”

“Thank you.” Christen smiled sweetly at her and Tobin tried hard not to blush. “Bye, Mom.”

“Have fun but be back by midnight.”

Christen mumbled her agreement as she led Tobin out the front door and to her car. “This is your car?”

“When I’m home, the Jeep is mine,” Tobin answered, opening the passenger door for Christen, who let out a quiet thank you in response. “It’s stays here when I’m at UNC though and my little brother’s been driving it. Sorry if it’s too dirty or anything.”

“It’s fine, Tobin. Where are we going?”

Tobin smiled as she hoped Christen would like her plan. “So there’s this diner I used to go to all the time, Joe’s. I thought we could go there for dinner and then can do something else.”

“Something else?” Christen asked, her tone showing both her nervousness and curiosity. “What’s the something else?”

“How about we have dinner and if you decide you want to hang out with me more we can do the something else. It’s a tradition I have during Christmas and you don’t have to do it with me if you don’t want to.”

“Well, now I’m intrigued.” Christen placed a hand over’s Tobin’s before she could start the Jeep. “I’m sure I’ll like anything you have in mind.”

Tobin nodded and they started the drive to the diner. They talked about little things as Tobin drove, like what they had done during the day and who they had talked to at the party the night before. Tobin learned that Christen went to a private school and they had only moved to town two years ago. It helped put the pieces together at why she and Christen hadn’t crossed paths yet even though they both played a lot of soccer. Until two years ago, the younger girl had been in another state.

“So my mom said that your dad might want to talk to me when I picked you up,” Tobin commented as she drove. “Why didn’t I get the inquisition?”

Christen laughed. “My mom convinced him not to. She figured they’d met you and know who your parents are. That was good enough. For now anyway.”

“Got to say, I’m a little relieved,” Tobin said, laughing with Christen. “I’ve never done the whole ‘talk with my date’s parents’ thing.” She took a quick left down a quiet road. “The diner’s just ahead.”

“I’ve passed this place a few times, but my friends and I have never gone in,” Christen commented when Tobin stopped in front of the diner. “It always looked too . . .”

“Sketchy?”

“Well, yeah . . . I guess. That doesn’t sound too stuck up or anything, does it?”

“I won’t hold it against you,” Tobin said and smiled as she got out of the vehicle. Christen did the same and Tobin took her hand to lead her inside. “Everyone who works here is super nice and everything on the menu is amazing.”

“Everything?” Christen asked, grinning. “You’ve tried everything?”

“Yep,” Tobin said, popping the p at the end. “Anything you order will be the best.”

“I will hold you to that.”

They shared a laugh and sat in an empty booth, grabbing the menus that were on the table. Christen playfully grilled Tobin about different items and then giggled as the waitress called Tobin “Toby” and preceded to talk about how much she could eat after a soccer match. The bright blush on Tobin’s face as a result of the kind heckling lasted for a couple minutes after the waitress, Megan, took their orders.

“You know,” Christen started out as she sipped on her water, “it’s kind of adorable how you blush at people complimenting you.”

“You think the over exaggeration about how much I ate after a match or hard practice was a compliment?” Tobin asked before she fully registered the entire statement. “Wait, you think I’m adorable?”

“And kind of cute, too.”

Tobin smiled at that. “Well, I could say the same thing about you.”

They both looked at each other silently for a moment, only to have it broken up by Megan bringing them drinks and an order of fries to eat while they waited for the rest of their food. Tobin quickly found out that Christen loved fries and thought that these particular fries were especially good. She stopped eating them after a minute and simply watched Christen happily eat fries and talk about how they were the best cheat food.

After awhile their meals came, waffles with bacon for Tobin and pancakes for Christen. They joked about their coaches would probably lecture them about eating so much junk and Tobin talked about what it was like living in the dorms and how the food was there. The conversation flowed easily throughout dinner until it was time to pay the check, which Tobin snatched up immediately.

“You don’t have to pay, Tobin.”

“I asked you out,” Tobin said, smiling. “That’s how it works.”

“Okay,” Christen agreed after pretending to think about it for a second, “but now you have to tell me what this after dinner activity is going to be.”

“So you’re not sick of me yet?”

“Tobin, I’m having a good time.” Christen reached across the table and took Tobin’s hand. “So what are we doing?”

Tobin almost became giddy at the thought of what was to come. “This might sound a little dorky, but when I was little my parents used take one night during the Christmas season, load all of us kids in the car, and look at lights.”

“Really?”

Tobin nodded. “Yep, we did it every year until my oldest sister went off to college. Then it didn’t really feel the same so we stopped. Once I was able to drive, I started up the tradition again.”

Christen smiled. “So you went by yourself?”

“Not exactly,” Tobin said vaguely, shaking her head. “But ‘tis the season and all that. Would you like to go with me? We can get some hot chocolate to go and I promise it will be fun.”

There was something about the look on Tobin’s face that made Christen know she would probably say yes to anything she said. “Okay, let’s go.”

“Awesome,” was all the response Tobin could think of. She didn’t want to tell her Shirley had gone with the last two years. She just wanted to have fun with Christen. “Come on, I’ll get the hot chocolate and then we can go to the neighborhoods I know will be lit up.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

XXXXXXXXX

“Wow, did you see that house?! That must have taken days to set up!”

Tobin laughed as she looked over at Christen as they slowly passed a house that had several light-up displays in front of their house. “I have to say setting the lights to music is always a good touch.”

“At least this whole block is in on it because you know there’s probably some grinchy neighbors in other places that would hate a setup like that.”

“Good thing we’re not driving through a neighborhood of grinches then,” Tobin said jokingly, steering them out of the neighborhood and on to the next one she knew would be lit up.

“This really is a lot of fun, Tobin.”

“I’m happy you like it. It’s something that always gets me excited for Christmas.”

Both of them stayed silent for a minute, Christen taking the opportunity to sip on her hot chocolate, before speaking up and getting the courage to ask what she wanted to back at the diner. “So who went with you last year?”

“Hmm?”

“You said you didn’t go by yourself last year. Who did you go with?”

Tobin let out a breath before answering, keeping her eyes on the road. “My girlfriend.”

“Oh.”

“Well, my ex-girlfriend now,” Tobin admitted. “She broke up with me a month ago.”

Christen frowned as she kept her eyes on her. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Tobin responded, shrugging. “She didn’t want to do long distance anymore.” She opened her mouth to say something else, but stopped, eyes moving to meet Christen’s for a second before turning her attention back to the road. “Sorry, I was told by my friends that you’re not supposed to talk about exes on a date.”

“Your friends had to tell you that?” Christen chuckled.

“Yeah, well, I’ve only ever gone out with one person so I guess I never got to know the rules.” Tobin pulled the Jeep into a parking lot of a park that was full of decorations. A few families were walking around, marveling over the displays and it put a smile on Tobin’s face. “After we broke up, some of my teammates tried to get me into the college dating scene, but I wasn’t really into it.”

“I can see why you wouldn’t.”

Tobin nodded her head in agreement before parking in a spot, happy that she could pay more attention to the pretty girl in the passenger seat. “What about you?”

“What about me?”

“Come on, Chris,” Tobin said, the nickname falling out of her mouth before she realized it, “you know about my one relationship. What about you?”

Christen smiled and looked down. “There was someone over the summer and a boyfriend before that.”

Tobin poked at her to make Christen look at her. “Was that someone a girl?”

“Yeah,” Christen admitted, a quiet laugh escaping her lips and she looked back at Tobin. “Soccer teammate, but the season ended and so did we.”

“That’s tricky,” Tobin commented. “I don’t know if I could risk messing with soccer like that.”

“You wouldn’t date someone if it messed with soccer?” Christen asked, curious at the response.

“I mean, you date a teammate and it doesn’t work out, right?” Tobin explained. “The chemistry of the team could be ruined. A breakup might affect how I play. I don’t know if I would risk it. Soccer is . . . well, it’s everything.”

Christen put her cup of hot chocolate back in the holder and leaned closer to Tobin. “So you wouldn’t date a teammate, but what about an opponent?”

Tobin knew she hadn’t had a grin on her face that wide in a while. She wasn’t sure how Christen could be so shy one minute and so outspoken the next, but it really did something to her. “You mean, like someone who will play for Stanford next year?”

Neither of them really knew who leaned in the rest of the way, but the kiss that resulted was both sweet and a little hot. It was different from their first couple kisses in Christen’s room the night before. Those were light and a little experimental. No one knew what the other wanted or was feeling. Now it felt like both were on the same page.

When they broke apart from each other, both of them had smiles on their faces. “I think I’d be okay with it.”

Tobin leaned in again and kissed Christen, deepening the kiss when she was given the opportunity. It was different than kissing Shirley, but then again, Shirley was the only other girl she’d ever kissed. At least she figured she was doing something right as she heard a quiet moan escape Christen’s mouth.

“Can I ask you a question?” Christen asked when they moved away from each other again. When Tobin nodded, she continued. “You’re only back from a month, right?”

“Yeah,” Tobin said, already knowing where this line of questioning was headed and knew she had to be honest. “I really don’t get back here either during the school year either. I mean, there’s spring break, but I hadn’t thought that far ahead yet.”

“So what happens after this month?” Christen didn’t want to be that person, especially someone she’d pretty much just met, but she felt something instantly with Tobin. She wanted to know where she stood because she didn’t want to jump into whatever as happening with the other girl just to be heartbroken when she left. “Hell, what happens next year? We’ll be on opposite ends of the country.”

“Getting right to it, huh?” Tobin tried to joke, but when how organized Christen had described herself as, she knew she should have expected something like this. “Christen, I know we just met, but I think there’s something here.” She paused as she looked into her eyes. “Isn’t there?”

Christen smiled and nodded. “So long distance?”

Tobin reached out and cupped Christen’s cheek with her hand. “I know I kind of failed at that already, but I have this feeling that it will be different this time. We can see where this month takes us and go from there.”

Christen took her hand and leaned in to place a kiss on her cheek. “I’d like that.”


End file.
